Joss Whedon: The Anti-Cupid

[white avenger]

It just occurred to me last night in one of those rare coherent moments between wakefulness and sleep that Joss Whedon must absolutely hate the concept of a happy-ever-after romantic relationship. From the very beginning, with Joyce leaving LA because of her recent divorce from Hank to the last few moments of the show when Buffy finally tells Spike that she loves him, only to have him burst into flames moments later, NOBODY gets to end up happily with any significant other. Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, and Cordelia all had relationships that ended badly and wound up, by the end of the series, alone and unhappy. There's an odd irony to the fact that, in the entire Buffyverse, the only "ship" that didn't end up sinking like the Titanic is the one that is only barely more popular than Buffy/Parker (Barker, a real dog of a couple): Willow and Kennedy.

So, what is it about Joss, true love, and stumbling stones?

 

[Perny]

Joss is definately an anti-cupid person. But I think he has to be. He is developing a story that has to kerep going forward, and progress. If he leaves the characters kissing and hugging all the time, in a happy-candy-skittles land, the characters won't go anywhere. They are just fine where they are. They might not even want to evolve because their current state is pretty comfy. Joss needs to break up happy couples, to make if more realistic, and let his show/characters move on in life.

Although I think he should let at least one ship have a happy ending. I mean, Something that wouldn't hurt the plot. Like Xanya. As much as I love Tillow or Spuffy, it couldn't be them. Take e.g. Spuffy. If if was a less complicated, Buffy would never have broken up with Spike, and we'd never gotten to the place where Spike gets his soul. Because if it all was happy days, he wouldn't need his soul.

 

[sk]

This has started to be such a big thing now, that Joss couples always ends badly, so I think he will start to mix things up in the future.
Now has everyone started to expect a bad ending. Don't think that Joss likes when people that watch his shows can predict things.

Personally I kinda miss happy couples in TV and otherwise.
Can understand it storywise that you must break people up to move the story forward. But every once in a while it would be nice to see a happy couple and still have a story that moves on.

/SK

 

[Revolver]

I kind of doubt Joss will mix things up in the future. That happy characters become uninteresting is something that he believes in as a writer. Add to that the fact that Dollhouse has kind of followed Whedon conventions so far (and been predictable on more than one occassion). Personally, I think it should be more balanced. It isn't realistic for every couple to have a happy ending, but it isn't normal for every relationship to end in tragedy either. And when you know that a Joss relationship is just going to end in tragedy before it begins, it loses any power it could have. I couldn't care less about this Victor/Sierra romance storyline on Dollhouse. They're two of the better performers on the show, but I just don't see the point of caring about that 'ship'.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

I'm so glad you brought this up. This is something I have thought about as well, and think is an interesting insight on his view of relationships. Isn't he married happily? Is he trying to be "realistic" by constantly portraying doomed relationships? I'm not sure. I remember him saying somewhere that he defined himself as an "angry atheist." Although this doesn't relate to relationships exactly, I think it says a lot about his worldview in general. The Buffyverse is a dark place hidden under a veneer of comic irony, right? Maybe this is how Joss sees life.

---------- Post added at 10:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 AM ----------

That happy characters become uninteresting is something that he believes in as a writer.

Unfortunately, this is totally true. People love drama. People won't keep tuning in to a happily-ever-after. I'm watching this show Gossip Girl right now, and you wouldn't believe the drama involved. Everyone wants someone they don't have, someone/something they had before, or someone they've never met. Everyone is looking for something but can't place what exactly. And I can already see the relationships falling apart, and I'm only 4 episodes in, and I see BIG drama down the road. And you know what? I'm totally into it. Mesmerized, actually. It's pretty freaky.

 

[Blackloliita]

/me high fives Josh.

Although he shouldn't have killed "Spuffy". But yeah he sure is, how weird it might be they all end alone and stuff; it's realistic, it's life.

 

[Buffed]

how weird it might be they all end alone and stuff; it's realistic, it's life.

Actually, it seems UNrealistic to me that virtually all couples end badly. A balance would seem much more realistic to me. Lets see the relationships that went bad in BtVS alone...

Buffy-Angel
Buffy-Parker
Buffy-Riley
Buffy-Spike
Buffy-Satsu
Spike-Drusilla
Cordelia-Wesley (though they weren't really a couple)
Cordelia-Xander
Anya-Xander
Renee-Xander
Willow-Oz
Willow-Tara
Joyce-Hank
Jenny-Giles
Dawn-Thricewise guy


And the relationships that were "good":
Willow-Kennedy (yuck!)
Xander-Dracula (just kidding!)

Might be more I'm forgetting, but it just got really predictable. I honestly wasn't that surprised when Tara was killed, because I knew them getting back together was a sign of trouble.